1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to clips for holding rugs and mats stationary relative to an underlying carpet and, more particularly, to a single piece stamped clip for the aforesaid purpose.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
It is a well known problem in the art that rugs and mats used to cover carpeting tend to slip along the carpet in the course of use. This problem is particularly vexing in that the whole purpose of using a mat to protect an underlying carpet is defeated by this slippage. Not only is the carpet thereby subject to unpredictable periods of exposure to wear, and to soilage, but the user must expend otherwise unnecessary effort to frequently realign the mat over and over again.
The aforesaid problem is of particular concern in automotive applications where the carpet is subject to extreme levels of wear due to tracking of dirt, salt ladden snow, and a multitude of other undesirable debris that linger on the carpet causing it to prematurely fail. Further, the shoes of the occupants, especially the driver, tend to be repeatedly placed in the same locations on the carpeting causing excessive wear of the carpeting at specific locations. Accordingly, in automotive environments floormats are used which are most commonly made of thick rubber that may or may not have a carpeted upper surface, usually being placed over the car carpeting in the area were the occupant's shoes would normally rest.
A number of solutions have been proposed in the prior art to solve the problem of mat or rug slippage along a surface. These solutions can generally be divided among devices which hold the rug, mat, or carpet relative to an underlying floor and those which hold a rug or mat relative to an underlying carpet.
Devices which secure a rug or carpet to a floor generally include some form of toothed portion that is used to clip or clamp onto the rug or carpet, as well as provision for securing the device to the floor. An example of such device is U.S. Pat. No. 91,573 to Smith dated June 22, 1869, which discloses a curved clip that includes a pointed stud for clamping to carpet. The clip further includes a flat portion that is provided with a nail hole for securing the clip to a floor. With particular regard to automotive applications, U.S. Pat. No. 4,033,011 to Endo et al dated July 5, 1977, discloses a car carpeting clip system including a plurality of lugs located on the metal car body and a similar plurality of hooked members attached to the backing of the carpeting. The carpeting is installed in the vehicle by placing the hooked members on the appropriate lugs.
Devices which secure a rug or mat onto a carpet generally include some form of hooking arrangement which intrudes into the carpet in order to affix the location of the mat relative to the carpet. One common solution in this regard is to use a plurality of nibs across the underside of the mat so that they protrude into the carpeting. An example of such a structure is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,559,231 to Hill dated Feb. 2, 1971. This proposed solution, however, suffers from inability to hold the mat permanently in position, since the nibs may creep along the uppermost surface of the carpeting, a condition which frequently results in carpet damage.
A more effective system for holding the mat in relation to the carpet is to use a plurality of clips located at strategic points around the periphery of the mat. The following is a brief description of several examples of such devices. U.S. Pat. No 580,975 to Hanson dated Apr. 20, 1897, discloses a rug clamp having joined upper and lower members. The upper and lower members have serrated ends for holding a received rug edge. The upper member is separated from the lower member by action of a spring lever. The rug clamp is secured to the carpet by action of opposing teeth on the other side of the clamp which intrude deeply into the carpeting. U.S. Pat. No. 661,220 to Le Fevre dated Nov. 6, 1900, discloses a rug fastener composed of a flat, metallic base having a first set of pointed prongs located on one side thereof that point in a first direction parallel with the base, and a second set of pointed prongs on the other side of the base pointing in the opposite direction to that of the first set. U.S. Pat. No. 913,159 to Petrie et al date Feb. 23, 1909, discloses a clamp having toothed ends for receiving a mat edge, a sliding collar to clamp the toothed ends, and a pair of sharpened ends for penetrating into the carpeting. The Hanson and Petrie devices are considerably elongated and are consequently not adaptable to solve the hereinabove described automotive floormat slippage problem primarily because there is limited room on the car carpeting beyond the edges of the floormat for the devices to be placed. Further, the seat, heater ducts, and other structures provide too little maneuvering room for securing either of the devices to the carpeting and further since thick, rubber-backed floormats are used, they cannot be held by carpet hooks, as taught by Le Fevre.
Hence, there remains a problem in the art to devise a system for holding the aforesaid mats or rugs, particularly thick, rubberized automotive floormats, in a precisely defined location on carpeting where there is limited available room peripheral to the rug or mat.